Tag Archives: health systems

Trevor Hancock is a professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria’s school of public health and social policy

Some of the fundamental principles of our health-care system — universal access to a comprehensive range of services in a system that is publicly administered — are threatened by the court challenge being mounted by Dr. Brian Day. But there is no smoke without fire.

Back in the 1990s, I organized study tours for Swedish health-care managers interested in learning from Canada’s health-care system. In introducing them to the system, I would point out that we do not have a national health-care system, as they do in Sweden, the U.K. or many other places.

Trevor Hancock is a professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria’s school of public health and social policy

Our health care system is not the only, and not even the most important determinant of the health of the population. But it is a determinant, and thus any threat to the proper functioning of the system is a threat to health. One such threat is the court case that started this week in the BC Supreme Court, in which Dr. Brian Day and others are seeking to overturn some of the fundamental principles on which the system is based.

Day co-founded the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver in 1996; in essence it's a private hospital with a number of operating rooms, offering a wide range of surgical procedures. There is nothing wrong in principle with a private hospital. Most Canadians don’t seem to realise this, but much of our care is provided through privately-owned clinics – that is what your doctor’s office is. ...continue reading →

Today, World Bank HQ hosted a round table discussion on plans for ‘Ebola Recovery’ in West Africa. Heads of state of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries that still have cases of Ebola, were present and outlined their recovery plans to finance and development ministers and international partners. The event aimed to “build global support for the three Ebola-affected countries to get to and sustain zero cases, jumpstart recovery and build more resilient health systems and economies.” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced that the WB Group would be donating $650 million towards the Ebola Recovery effort; he also noted that a ‘Catastrophe, Containment and Relief’ trust fund has been set up to co-ordinate funds from other donors (fundraising continues).

Now that Ebola cases are declining, the epidemic seems to have been well-contained and the world’s media are no longer very interested in Ebola, why is so much money being pledged anew to the cause? The answer ...continue reading →